UFT Election 2025: The Final Countdown - Come on Down - Plenty of Seating

Thursday, May 29, 2025

 

So it's the middle of the night and I have to be at UFT at 9 AM but I wanted to get this out  in advance. I want to get upstairs to the gym before I leave so this is a rush job. 

 

Expect all the groups running to have reps there along with any others who are interested in the process. Food will be served by GES, the vendor, which is catering from the UFT 3rd floor restaurant. For some a lot is at stake so expect some anxious looks. Let's hope there will be no food fights. Generally, I've found in the past that even people who have fought hard in an election don't bring animosity when observing. We all try to be nice. I will do my best, though I know a lot of people from some caucuses who seem pretty mad at me. (I will address the other caucuses in a follow-up post - maybe tonight.)

 

The ABC crew, on the other hand, seem to be happy campers, having had fun along the way. One of the officer candidates was given release from school today so I will have good company - I expect her to shield me from some of the very angry people who tend to blame me for the existence of ABC. (I have not played a major role other than in running the petition campaign through late March.)

 

I dropped by Shanker Hall yesterday to get the lay of the land for the count. I reported on my conversation with Kathryn Weisbeck, president of Global Election Services, the company running the election, when I voted in person last week. She was very helpful and yesterday she was at Shanker Hall along with the Chairman of GES, John S. Matthews, who gave me a guided tour of the entire process. Though I was initially skeptical, my hopes were raised that the process would run smoothly - but talk is cheap. Today we will see if the proof is in the pudding. John said they hired and trained 75 people in 3 shifts. Two security guards, moonlighting NYC police I believe, will be guarding the ballots from 8PM last night until 8 AM this morning.

 

Unlike AAA, GES did not touch the ballots until Wednesday morning when they picked ten boxes (about 3-4 feet high) up from the post office and delivered them to Shanker Hall. In addition, there are 34 locked in-person ballot boxes. Thus, unlike AAA which used to scan the envelopes as they came in - something none of us were able to see, GES is more open to us observing that process which will begin at 9 AM and last 8 hours. Thus no counting until that is done. But even before the count can begin, the envelops have to be slit open which will also take hours. So I imagine we might see some counting tonight.

Yasmin Colon, who handles elections for the UFT was there with me and I always rely on Yasmin and promised I would try to be nice - this time. There is plenty of seating for observers and there will be 3 TV screens for the scanners. Up to ten observers at a time will be allowed to watch up close if they like.

 

Yasmin has arranged plenty of seating for observers so no need to call in advance but you will need your UFT id to check in with her assistants. 

Security guards will also be on duty tonight from 8 PM to Friday morning at 7 when count sill resume. If necessary, the count will continue into Saturday. Expect full results to be tabulated by Monday or Tuesday. 

One other major change is that the ballots will not be separated by colors and counted division by division but all mixed in together -- there is a code on each color ballot that the software can pick up - but we won't be able to easily monitor the divisional vote until it's over. What we will do is take sample batches throughout the process over a period of hours and average those results. Bennet Fischer reported he did that in the RTC election last year and when he averaged about 15 samples he hit the exact number - 63% - that we won by. So if you come down join me in doing sampling. Expect the bulk of counting to be Friday.

 

As a member of the UFT Election Committee, I should be able to get some updates along the way. 

Below is the bulletin to the election committee from GES:

 

GLOBAL ELECTION SERVICES TABULATION PROCESS

This is an overview of the procedure GES will be executing to process the ballots for the UFT 2025 Election. Please note that the various processes will overlap to keep everything moving. We do not have a scheduled stop time - we will work until it is completed, which may take more than one day. In 2025 you will observe the registration of every returned ballot envelope.

Please be patient with the process.

Feel free to ask the GES supervisors questions at any point in the process. GES is committed to an accurate count and strives for complete transparency for all observers present.

OBSERVER RULES

• All Observers will be asked to fill out sign-in sheets – entry for observation will be coordinated by UFT staff.

• No observer may record and/or take photographs inside the post office, and the tabulation room.

• During the course of the tabulation, observers are allowed to walk around the room.

• Observers are not allowed to touch or handle any election materials or equipment throughout the

  entire process.

• GES will explain all processes during the election as they occur, and observers are welcome to

  ask GES Supervisory Staff or the Election Committee questions.

• If any observer fails to follow the Rules set forth above, or any additional direction from GES or

  the Election Committee, the observer may be asked to leave.

  In order to be permitted to observe, candidates must agree to be bound to these Rules.

  MAY 28: Load-In

• A GES team will be loading in and testing all election equipment.

• All sealed in-person ballot boxes will be delivered to the tabulation location.

• A second team will go to the US Post Office to meet and supervise the OZ moving

  company, to pick up and transport all of the mailed in ballots to the tabulation location.

• GES has hired professional security to guard the ballots and all equipment overnight in

  advance of the tabulation.

  MAY 29 (start time 9am) – MAY 30 (start time 7am)

  MAIL BALLOT ENVELOPE REGISTRATION

• All mail ballots that were received at the post office by the deadline will be registered with GES’s proprietary registration software to log in each voter. Every individual ballot will be scanned with a barcode reader to validate the member’s eligibility and confirm only one vote per voter is counted.

• Valid envelopes will be bundled in batches of 100.

• Any returned envelopes with erroneous or missing verification information will be held aside for review.

• Prior to the registration start, observers may submit any names they wish to challenge and the reason for the challenge and those names will be marked as challenged with the reason so they can be set aside if returned.

• If an individual voted in person and mailed in a ballot, the system will flag that voter as ‘already registered’ and the second mailed in ballot will be marked VOID and removed from the count.

  *This is a very important part of the process that observers were not previously allowed the opportunity to see. It will take some time but is crucial to the integrity of the election.

  IN PERSON BALLOT PROCESSING

• All sealed In-Person voting boxes are labeled with the date and location.

• The boxes will be opened one by one, and the In-Person ballots will be smoothed out and prepared for scanning. Any mail ballots that were hand delivered will be opened and

  included in the batches for scanning.

• The booklets will be cut and slate only voted pages will be separated for scanning first.

• Ballot booklets with marked filed in bubbles votes will be scanned.

  MAIL BALLOT CUTTING STATION

• After the envelopes have been registered, each batch will be run through automatic envelope cutters and kept in batches of 100.

  *Using the secrecy sleeves eliminates the need to make a second cut for each ballot package and ensures that the ballots are not cut.

  BALLOT PULLING AREA

• After all the envelopes have been registered, the batches of valid envelopes will be given to the team of pullers who will pull out the sleeves containing the voted ballots.

• All returned envelopes with names are removed and will be secured in containers displayed in full view of the observers. At this point, the anonymity of the voter is secured.

• Any markings found to identify the voter on the ballot, will invalidate the ballot. In these instances, the ballot and envelope will be set aside and marked VOID.

• Any secrecy sleeves containing material other than the ballot will also be set aside.

• Any ballot returned without a secrecy sleeve will be collected and mixed with the other

  returned ballots – the voting mark will be hidden to maintain the secrecy of the vote.

• All empty sleeves will be secured in containers displayed in full view of the observers.

• Once there are approximately 1,000 sleeves pulled, a section of the pulling area will begin

  pulling the ballots from the secrecy sleeves.

• The extracted valid ballots will be unfolded and smoothed out to prepare for scanning.

• Single pages with only a slate vote will be segregated for scanning together in batches

separately from the bubbled votes.

BALLOT SCANNING AND TABULATION STATIONS

• Valid ballots will be scanned in batches on high-speed optical scanners utilizing GES’ proprietary scanning and tabulation software.

• A jpeg image of each ballot will be captured.

• The software has the ability to read the ballot type, so the ballots do not need to be

  physically sorted by ballot type/color.

• The software will analyze the markings on each ballot and prepare the batches for

  verification and export.

• GES staff will go through a verification process for ballots with unclear markings to make

  sure the ‘intent of the voter’ is recorded.

• Any ‘overvotes’ will void that section of the ballot and all additional correctly voted

  sections will still be counted.

• GES will perform an audit of the interim results onsite prior to making any announcements

  to observers.

• Once all review and verification processes have been completed, GES will provide

  Unofficial Results.

  BALLOT REVIEW STATION

• Any envelopes or ballot packages that require review or special attention will be dealt with at the ballot review station.

• GES will review questions and determinations with the Election Coordinator. POST ELECTION

• All election materials will be sealed on site and secured by GES for the duration of one year as per the Department of Labor.

• Returned envelopes received after the deadline “Too Late Mail” will be collected, unopened and maintained by GES for the duration of one year as per the Department of Labor.

• GES will provide the Election Committee the amount of “Too Late Mail” picked up 30 days after the election.